The present invention is concerned with an arrangement of deep sea tanks and a seaport for containing oil spills or other material floating on the water. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a generally circular containment barrier constructed of deep sea tanks which are anchored to the bottom of the sea, with one or more towers located in the center thereof to serve oil tankers.
Previous apparatus for confining oil slicks and other pollutants floating on the surface of the ocean or other body of water have included various types of barriers, booms and tanks for confining the oil, with various configurations being employed in order to allow the particular containment members to adapt themselves to the environment in which they are positioned. Such previous containment barriers have been accompanied by various disadvantages, including poor flotation, lack of accommodation to various wave conditions in the ocean and incompatibility with transfer apparatus for transferring oil which has been confined to a collection point.
By the present invention, there is provided a configuration of deep sea tanks and a seaport arrangement which is advantageously constructed in order to contain oil spills from such sources as broken oil lines, leaking pumps or accidents on tankers or ships. The apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of interconnected buoyant, deep sea tanks with a skirt member interposed between adjacent tanks to define the boundary of a containment area for containing material such as oil floating on the water. Means is provided for anchoring certain of the tanks to the seabed. The deep sea tanks surround one or more towers which function as a docking facility for oil tankers and other ships. The tower employs features which ensure a stabilized platform, while also providing easy access to ships coming alongside. The tower is equipped with a pipeline for connection with the oil line of a docked ship to allow transfer of oil to the shore. Also provided on the tower are compartments which function as living and operational spaces, as well as a helicopter port.